Forty Under 40

Eric Johnson, 34

Partner,
Walter & Haverfield LLP

Firsts surround Eric Johnson. In 2006, at 31, he became the youngest partner in Walter & Haverfield's history. At the beginning of this year, he became the head of its labor and employment law section and now serves on its management committee.

Mr. Johnson is also the first member of his family to attend college, much less law school. Born in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, the son of a delivery truck driver, Mr. Johnson is the proverbial quick study who jokes that he “tests well.”

After growing up in Willoughby, the Eastlake North High School graduate landed, thanks to financial aid, at Denison University “not knowing what a Saab was.” By graduation, he chose Duke University for law school over New York and Columbia universities because he felt no New York allure and liked Duke's basketball team.

Representing management is an odd pairing for a Teamster's son, but Mr. Johnson said the nature of the work drew him to that area.

He found his niche during a first-year summer internship at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. He crammed every employment law class he could into his second year of law school. His second-year summer internship was at prestigious Akin & Gump's Washington, D.C., office due to its labor and employment law practice.

Despite first-job offers in other cities, he chose Squire Sanders in Cleveland because of its stature and the work-life balance his hometown offered and proximity to family. It helped that his future wife, Kelly Barsham, joined Jones Day here from Duke at the same time.

While at Squire Sanders, he learned the education component of employment law. “The five partners I worked with at Squire were essential in forming who I am today,” he said. “Some were aggressive. Some were conservative. Some were problem solvers. I learned very different tactics and the ability to be adaptable.”

He joined Walter Haverfield because it offered the chance to build a practice on school law from scratch.